Children out of school, primary - Country Ranking - Central America & the Caribbean

Definition: Children out of school are the number of primary-school-age children not enrolled in primary or secondary school.

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (http://uis.unesco.org/)

See also: Thematic map, Time series comparison

Find indicator:
Rank Country Value Year
1 Haiti 545,942.00 1997
2 Guatemala 246,359.00 2020
3 Honduras 191,269.00 2020
4 El Salvador 109,486.00 2019
5 Panama 51,162.00 2020
6 Dominican Republic 47,570.00 2020
7 Puerto Rico 38,182.00 2013
8 Jamaica 31,439.00 2005
9 Nicaragua 28,180.00 2010
10 The Bahamas 3,445.00 2005
11 Trinidad and Tobago 1,509.00 2010
12 Cuba 1,455.00 2020
13 Barbados 512.00 2020
14 St. Lucia 497.00 2020
15 Cayman Islands 400.00 2020
16 Costa Rica 316.00 2020
17 Grenada 94.00 2018
18 Belize 69.00 2020
19 Antigua and Barbuda 66.00 2018
20 St. Vincent and the Grenadines 58.00 2017
21 St. Kitts and Nevis 54.00 2016
21 Dominica 54.00 2020

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Development Relevance: Large numbers of children out of school create pressure to enroll children and provide classrooms, teachers, and educational materials, a task made difficult in many countries by limited education budgets. However, getting children into school is a high priority for countries and crucial for achieving universal primary education.

Limitations and Exceptions: Due to different data sources for enrollment and population data, the number may not capture the actual number of children not attending in primary school.

Other Notes: Data retrieved via API in March 2019. For detailed information on the observation level (e.g. National Estimation, UIS Estimation, or Category not applicable), please visit UIS.Stat (http://data.uis.unesco.org/).

Statistical Concept and Methodology: The number of out-of-school children is calculated by subtracting the number of primary school-age children enrolled in primary or secondary school from the total population of the official primary school-age children. Data on education are collected by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics from official responses to its annual education survey. All the data are mapped to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) to ensure the comparability of education programs at the international level. The current version was formally adopted by UNESCO Member States in 2011. Population data are drawn from the United Nations Population Division. Using a single source for population data standardizes definitions, estimations, and interpolation methods, ensuring a consistent methodology across countries and minimizing potential enumeration problems in national censuses. The reference years reflect the school year for which the data are presented. In some countries the school year spans two calendar years (for example, from September 2010 to June 2011); in these cases the reference year refers to the year in which the school year ended (2011 in the example).

Aggregation method: Sum

Periodicity: Annual